British archaeologist volunteer, Nadine Ross, uncovered the ancient coins at an excavation site and within the ruins of a 7th century building near the Old City. She had been at the site for a month and found the coins in the last week of her visit.

"To be honest, I just thought, ‘Thank God I didn’t throw it in the rubbish bucket,’ " Ross was quoted in the Telegraph. "I was just glad I sort of spotted it before I disturbed it too much."

All coins bear the likeness of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-641 CE). The embedded Reuters video includes the coins, comments from Ross and speculation as to how the coins were first hidden.